Some performance issues. Controls can be difficult to operate for those with larger hands. No glass viewfinder. Some shots had blown-out highlights.

Bottom Line

This 7.2-megapixel ultracompact is very versatile and easy to use, with lots of flexibility for shooting stills and movies.

here's a sleek shooter plenty of folks are sure to find alluring. not only is the casio's compact exilim ex-s770 fashionably styled, but it has some serious photo-taking chops. loaded with scene modes and a great set of video-capture tools, this is a camera that offers you lots of options.

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this 7.2-megapixel camera features a 3x optical zoom lens with a 6.2-to-18.6mm range (equivalent to a 35mm lens with a 38-to-114mm zoom) and has corresponding maximum f-stops of f/2.7 to f/5.2. although the list price was originally $379.99, this stylish camera is now available for a much more reasonable $299. that's not, however, the only reason i dig the ex-s770.

for starters, i love the camera's various movie options. the ex-s770 can encode its video clips (stored as avi files), which are vga quality or 640-by-480 at 30 frames per second, in mpeg-4. the mpeg-4 format allows for better storage of such clips, meaning you can fit more video on the same memory card. you can also store video to the capacity of the card. not only that, but the camera allows you to use new type-sdhc memory cards (up to 4gb in size), so you'll have lots of space to capture all your youtube moments.

casio has in the past offered some very compelling features for shooting video. for example, i saw some real promise with the exilim ex-p505 a couple of years ago, primarily because it included a short movie mode and past movie mode. so i was happy to see these settings on the ex-s770. in past movie mode, the camera continuously stores whatever hits the sensor to a 5-second buffer. all you need to do is press the button when you see something happen, and you've caught 5 seconds of action. it's just like a regular movie mode, but it begins before you actually touch the movie button. this is great for catching spontaneous scenes that you couldn't see coming. in the short movie mode, data is also continuously recorded and stored in the buffer. you need to keep your camera pointed at the action in this mode as well.

the ex-s770 doesn't skimp on scene modes; it includes a whopping selection of 34. you can choose from a wide assortment of best shot modes, all of which include further info for the type of photo, the name of the mode, and a quick mode description. scene modes run the gamut from candlelight portrait to pet to soft flowing water. there's even a built-in setting for ebay. this mode lets photographers quickly and easily create a shot optimized for posting on the ebay web site. it automatically downsizes the image so that it's only a 2mp shot, making it ready to upload.

this camera, however, is by no means perfect. some of the controls are too small and tricky to use. also, because pushing any of the buttons starts the camera, the camera sometimes "wakes up" when you don't want it to. another drawback is that the 2.8-inch lcd solarizes too quickly. casio has also done away with glass viewfinders in the ultraslim linethat's too bad. as i've often noted, a viewfinder can be really helpful in bright light.

the quality of the test images revealed the ex-s770 to be quite an excellent camera. in both daylight and flash shots, it produced stellar images with minimal fringing and vibrant, accurate color. the flash did blow out highlights a little, but you can quickly adjust the strobe's illumination. otherwise, the flash was pretty evenly distributed throughout my test shots. overall, the camera responded extremely well to different light conditions, and it displayed very good color and decent sound on still shots for such a small camera. it also quickly adjusted to various exposure situations, though, you're unable to zoom during filming. but in terms of overall quality and performance, i was very impressed.

the ex-s770 did pretty well on my performance tests. it booted up in just 1.7 seconds, but its 5.2-second recycle time was very slow, and i noticed a touch of shutter lag. burst mode is limited to three shots at a time, although i managed to fire these shots off very quickly. using a flash didn't slow the process down, either. the ex-s770 has an average resolution of 1,650 lines, which is very good for a 7.2mp camera.

in terms of the s770's service and support, casio backs the camera with a one-year warranty. here in pc magazine labs, i also found the ex-s770 to be compatible with microsoft's latest operating system, windows vista.

for those who love shooting video, the casio exilim ex-s770 comes very close to replacing the canon's powershot sd550, although the canon still edges it out in quality and performance. but for shooting video and all those ebay lovers, the ex-s770 might be a perfect point-and-shoot digital camera.

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About the Author

Terry Sullivan has tested and reported on many different types of consumer electronics and technology services, including cameras, action cams, smart phones, wireless speakers, streaming music services, digital-imaging apps, and video-editing software. He has also written extensively on various trends in the worlds of technology, photography, multi... See Full Bio

Casio Exilim EX-S770

Casio Exilim EX-S770

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